Lionel de Welles (1406-1461)
|birth_year=1406 |birth_locality=Welles |birth_county=Lincolnshire |birth_nation-subdiv1=England |death_year=1461 |death_month=03 |death_day=29 |death_event=Battle of Towton |death_locality=Towton |death_county=Yorkshire |death_nation-subdiv1=England |ifmarried-g1=true |ifmarried-g2=true |globals= }} Biography Lionel, was the 6th Baron Welles and was an English nobleman and soldier. He was killed fighting on the Lancastrian side at the Battle of Towton. Lionel, the eldest son, succeeded his grandfather in 1421, was knighted with Henry VI at Leicester by John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford on 19 May 1426, and went with the young king to France in 1430. He was summoned to parliament as sixth Baron Welles from 25 February 1432 to 30 July 1460. In 1434 he became a privy councillor. He was sent to relieve Calais in 1436, when the town was besieged by a weak force of Burgundians. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from about 1438; Lionel's younger brother, William, occasionally acted as his deputy in the post, and was in 1461 Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton was fought during the English Wars of the Roses on 29 March 1461, near the village of the same name in Yorkshire. It was "probably the largest and bloodiest battle ever fought on English soil". According to chroniclers, more than 50,000 soldiers from the Houses of York and Lancaster fought for hours amidst a snowstorm on that day, which was Palm Sunday. A newsletter circulated a week after the battle reported that 28,000 died on the battlefield. The engagement brought about a monarchical change in England—Edward IV displaced Henry VI as King of England, driving the head of the Lancastrians and his key supporters out of the country. Lionel, As a Lancastrian supporter, took the oath of allegiance at Coventry in 1459. He joined Margaret of Anjou on her march south, was at the second battle of St Albans on 7 February 1461. He was killed at Towton on 29 March, and attainted in the parliament which followed. He was buried in Waterton church, Methley, Yorkshire. Family of Lionel de Welles He married twice, and had issue from both marriages: at least seven children altogether. First marriage to Joan Waterton About 1426 he married Joan (or Cecilia, Cecily) Waterton,3 only daughter of Sir Robert Waterton of Waterton and Methley, and had issue a son, Richard, and four daughters: these included 1 # Richard de Welles, 7th Baron Welles (c. 1429–1469/1470); # Eleanor de Welles (c.1428-1490), who married Thomas Hoo, Baron Hoo and Hastings; # Margaret de Welles, who married Sir Thomas Dymoke. # Cecily de Welles, who married Sir Robert Willoughby of Parham (died 1465), son of Sir Thomas Willoughby (son of William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and Lucy Le Strange) and Lady Joan FitzAlan (daughter of John FitzAlan, 6th Earl of Arundel, and Eleanor Berkeley); they had issue Christopher Willoughby, 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (and were great-grandparents of Catherine Willoughby) Comment:- Cecily previously listed to the second marriage could not have been born so late, she is listed as mother to Christopher Willoughby estimated birth 1453, so more likely to be born about 1430 to his 1st wife Cecily Waterton Second Marriage to Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso Secondly, between 27 May 1444 and 31 August 1447 (DNB) (on 14 April 1447)3 he married Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso (died 13 July 1480), daughter of Sir John Beauchamp of Bletsoe. She was widow of Sir Oliver St John and also of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, with children by both these marriage. The children of Lionel and Margaret included1 # John Welles, 1st Viscount Welles, who married Cecily of York the daughter of Edward IV of England Category:Barons in the Peerage of England Category:Knights of the Garter Category:People of the Wars of the Roses Category:English military personnel killed in action